MikDee
Banned
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 4,745
My fond,,,er!,,,scary, boating memories are slowly coming back to me now, another episode of scary boating through the years. Being boatless, & broke at the time, I decided a cheap boat would fit the bill, what do ya know I found an old 18' Higgins plywood speedboat, with a 135hp graymarine engine and trailer for $600! The boat looked pretty clean, and the PO said he did a valve job on it recently, it ran like a Top! After a some minor work, it was ready for a maiden voyage. So, Me, & Dad took the 3 kids with us. Not having enough life jackets yet, each kid was getting his own ride, as the others waited at the dock. First time out, the boat was zipping around like a fish takes to water, the engine sounded so mellow, & sweet, and I was doing 38mph, at 4000rpm! Pretty pleased with that, I drove back to the dock, and picked up kid #2,,, As I started to plane off, kid #2 was yelling something? "What do you want?" I said,,, he said "Water is shooting up out of the boat!" so, I idle down to take a look, sure enough the water was up to the universal joint of the prop, and being shot up into the air! 
Anybody who has ever owned an inboard boat, knows that this is pretty deep! Scary deep! So, I turn on the bilge pump, and drop off my son, then start bailing with a large pail,,, needless to say, I'm drifting in the canal, and the leak is gaining on me, even with the pump on, & me bailing! Finally after what seemed like eternity , It slowed enough for me to get it over to the ramp, & on the trailer,,, the old 65' Chevy wagon with a newer 350/250hp motor, struggled a bit, but got it up & out of the water. :faint2: and home we went.
After further evaluation, I found the plywood bottom was soft, and reskinned with fiberglass, to no avail. :facepalm: So, I decided not to take the boat apart, & turn it upside down, & redo the bottom, as it was still early in the season,,, I sold the boat for $500, and told the new owner, "It leaks a little" he wasn't very concerned, just happy to get the boat, so I let it be.
Anybody who has ever owned an inboard boat, knows that this is pretty deep! Scary deep! So, I turn on the bilge pump, and drop off my son, then start bailing with a large pail,,, needless to say, I'm drifting in the canal, and the leak is gaining on me, even with the pump on, & me bailing! Finally after what seemed like eternity , It slowed enough for me to get it over to the ramp, & on the trailer,,, the old 65' Chevy wagon with a newer 350/250hp motor, struggled a bit, but got it up & out of the water. :faint2: and home we went.After further evaluation, I found the plywood bottom was soft, and reskinned with fiberglass, to no avail. :facepalm: So, I decided not to take the boat apart, & turn it upside down, & redo the bottom, as it was still early in the season,,, I sold the boat for $500, and told the new owner, "It leaks a little" he wasn't very concerned, just happy to get the boat, so I let it be.
